Delhi 2010 – Diamonds Make Winning Start in Delhi
WAIS netball athlete Susan Fuhrmann and the Australian Diamonds today made a winning start to their 2010 Commonwealth Games campaign in New Delhi, with a 76-39 win over Samoa.
The gold medal favourites were never seriously troubled by a Samoa outfit that remained valiant to the last, and used the opportunity to give court time to all 12 players on the roster.
Furhmann started the match as goal keeper and had one of the easier days of her representative career, whilst at the other end, Susan Pratley hit 25 goals at 93 percent to lead all scorers for the first Group A fixture.
The only area of concern for Australian Coach Norma Plummer will be the 79 penalties conceded by the combative Australian outfit compared to Samoa’s 50. The high level physicality of the ANZ Championship appeared less tolerated in the international format.
The Australian team however, will have until Thursday 7th to adjust to the more stringent contact rules on which date they will face a much sterner test of their medal credentials when they face Jamaica at 5.30pm (Perth time).